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We have a leak in the system (blowing warm). Had some guys come out to fix it and they suggested we locate the leak.
It looks like we may be going down a slippery slope with the evaporator possibly being the culprit to be replaced.
They hooked up pressure hoses with nitrogen to the evaporator, as well as the line going to the attic from outside, and the compressor outside, and said he'd come back in a few days to check the pressure again.
I asked him how much it cost to replace the evaporator and he said the last one he did was a Carrier and cost $3k in total (parts, labor to find the leak and replace the evaporator, freon) which sounds nuts to me. He said York will be a little cheaper but labor is the same.
This sounded quite high to me and I wondered if this was getting pretty close to the cost of replacing the entire system ? Ours is a 2004 XR80 furnace with the A/C built in. We want to physically relocate this thing anyway (eventually) to finish the attic. If it is 3k to fix, or another 2k (5k total) to get us a new install , installed correctly and 15% more efficient is this something we should consider?
We also will get 400$ rebates for NJ for energystar for the furnace plus 30% tax credit from the fed. So that is to say that $5k cash to an HVAC contractor is more like $3k out of my pocket IF used for new EnergyStar stuff. Unsure if we can use the same old compressor outside or if we'd have to upgrade that as well. That one is an XR12. Here in NJ we use the heat a lot more than the air.
Last edited by joe moving; 04-14-2010 at 06:44 PM..
Well it does not seem to make a ton of sense to entirely replace a 5 year old system but the new stuff is 15% more efficient on the heating, figure $200 a year. Maybe another $100 gained by efficiency on the A/C.
If they charge me $2500-3000 just to replace evaporator only just seems crazy to me, when a whole new system is probably $6k - rebates of $2000 = $4k. a $1000 difference?????
Plus I can make them move the system to reduce duct work in the attic (for finishing the attic) and also the new stuff should be much more comfortable (condensing, multi stage, etc.).
Frank what is the deal with this energy audit stuff and 25% savings?
if I understand correctly I have to be making 58k or less for a family of 2 for all of this stuff.... or is that only for ADDITIONAL incentives?
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